Paul Krugman – Greece To Leave Euro, By Possibly Next Month

Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times today of Greece leaving the euro and sees it all happening if not next month, then shortly after that. Here’s the breakdown of how Krugman sees it play out. Mind you, it’s not a very bold prediction, I think most would see this from a while back as being a strong possibility.

Some of us have been talking it over, and here’s what we think the end game looks like:

1. Greek euro exit, very possibly next month.

2. Huge withdrawals from Spanish and Italian banks, as depositors try to move their money to Germany.

3a. Maybe, just possibly, de facto controls, with banks forbidden to transfer deposits out of country and limits on cash withdrawals.

3b. Alternatively, or maybe in tandem, huge draws on ECB credit to keep the banks from collapsing.

4a. Germany has a choice. Accept huge indirect public claims on Italy and Spain, plus a drastic revision of strategy — basically, to give Spain in particular any hope you need both guarantees on its debt to hold borrowing costs down and a higher eurozone inflation target to make relative price adjustment possible; or: